Gordon Linney
In December 1968, in what was said at the time to be the most watched television programme ever transmitted, three American astronauts sent a message back to Earth which included tomorrow’s Old Testament reading: “We are now approaching lunar sunrise, and for all the people back on Earth, the crew of Apollo 8 has a message that we would like to send to you. ‘In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day’...”
The founder of American Atheists Madalyn Murray O’Hair objected to the scripture reading and sued the United States government, alleging violations of the US constitution. The Supreme Court dismissed the challenge, claiming lack of jurisdiction.
The actress Dame Sybil Thorndike as a young woman was overwhelmed when she first saw the mighty Niagara Falls and wrote home to her parents in these extravagant terms: “I’ve seen it. The trouble is I’ve run out of adjectives to describe it. I’ve used up all the wonderfuls and marvellouses. So take all the wonderfuls and marvellouses, multiply them a hundred times, sing them to the Hallelujah Chorus, King of Kings, Lord of Lords, and you’ll know something of what I’m feeling.”
Spiritual “highs” like these are encouraging but faith journeys are usually more mundane. Experiencing God in ordinary life can be challenging and spiritual disciplines can become burdensome. The culture of meaninglessness that is so widespread today doesn’t help.
Bishop John Pritchard was aware of this difficulty when he wrote: “I believe that for many people an approach to the divine is made most easily through the natural world. I might like to think that being introduced to the person of Jesus Christ would bring people to their knees, but experience suggests that a walk in the hills or digging in the garden is for many a surer guide to the geography of God. It may therefore be that when we have lost contact with God in church or in our praying one of the things not to do is to push it but instead let go into the wonder of the truly astonishing beauty, complexity and power of nature.”
When Sybil Thorndike and those Apollo 8 astronauts, each one scientifically or technically trained, encountered “the truly astonishing beauty, complexity and power of nature” it is significant that they felt compelled to resort to the language of worship. In those moments of discovery and high human achievement they were “lost in wonder, love and praise” as they contemplated the beauty and marvel of God’s creation.
In Hungry Men, Leonard Hurst suggests that worship can be a creative thing. "It means coming from the squalor, the hunger, the misery, the heartbreak, for the act of acknowledging again the love and kingship of God. It means ascending the hill of the Lord to receive his pardon, to receive again the bread and wine of life, to bring all that has been learned and suffered at the crossroads of life to God for his dealing. But it does not mean a permanent lodging in the cathedrals and churches where worship in community is offered. It means going back to the arena of the world's life and the place of man's need only to discover that God to whom the worship was offered is the contemporary friend and partner to all who for the love of God and man, seek to meet man's need."
The Genesis creation story reminds us of the Holy Spirit creating new order where there had been chaos and confusion. That same creative Spirit is active in people’s lives today, bringing new life and hope to those will receive it.